Hebrews 5:8–9: “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,”

July 26th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

These verses in Hebrews are not saying that Jesus learned to be obedient, meaning He moved from disobedience to obedience. But rather that He experienced or “learned” human obedience by actually doing it on planet earth. Innocence is different from integrity or virtue. Innocence means no wrong was committed, whereas virtue and integrity require making a choice or decision to do the right thing. Godly obedience is doing something we may not want to do, but need to do because it is right. Though Jesus was the Son of God, when He was born as a man, of flesh, He laid down His own will and accepted the will of the Father.

Jesus was completely committed and prepared to become our Savior, “the author of eternal salvation.” It did not catch Him off guard, nor was it more difficult than He thought it was going to be. He chose obedience, and we, who choose to obey Him, make Him our Lord, surrender to Him, and receive the gift of eternal life through Him because of His sacrifice. Will we sometimes fail? Of course we will. Will our obedience earn us salvation? Never, salvation is a gift!

There is a true story from WWI that illustrates grace and obedience working together. On October 8, 1918, practically single-handedly, Sergeant Alvin C. York captured 132 German soldiers, an act which earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was definitely a hero as he displayed both courage and selflessness in that battle, but there was a deeper reason he carried himself heroically and was so supernaturally protected. Here is a quote that he made in his diary 3 months earlier on July 1, 1918:

I carried a Testament with me. I have the Testament I carried with me during all my fighting . . . I read it through five times during my stay in the army. I read it everywhere. I read it in dugouts, in fox holes, and on the front line. It was my rock to cling to . . . I didn’t do any cursing, no, not even in the front line. I cut all of that out long ago, at the time I was saved.

Sergeant York lived his life in humble, submissive, obedience to God, and God poured out His grace on him. The end of his diary entry for the day of the battle, October 8, says: “So you can see here in this case of mine where God helped me out . . . God will be with you if you will only trust Him; and I say that He did save me. Now, He will save you if you will only trust Him.”

“LORD, help us to walk with You this day in godly obedience.”